Tempting Fate
by Malady Pond
Summary: "What is it about her that holds you so enthralled?" The question lingered in his ear. / What happens when Cole meets a woman who makes him rethink his plans to get Phoebe back? Story begins during Sam I Am. Rated M for adult situations. Discontinued; see profile.
1. Chapter 1

_This fic is by Calixa Cochrane, but, since I'm collaborating with her on another story, I'm posting this one for her with her permission. Peace and love. Malady Pond._

_Okay, so I had this thought about - actually, I can't tell you that part because it would be a spoiler for future chapters. It has to do with the Avatars and another possibility of where they came from. It's going to be a twisty-turny thing, this story. And, yes, there will be some smut (starting with this chapter), but it's not going to be terribly explicit or even all that often._  
_This story starts during the episode, _Sam, I Am_, and Cole is pondering a question that was posed to him by a seemingly unremarkable woman._

"What is it about her that holds you so enthralled?" she had asked him with her soft English accent.

The question lingered in his ear. It had been days since their encounter at that dive bar, and she could barely have been called a beautiful woman, but he found he couldn't forget her.

Phoebe Halliwell had been the woman he loved beyond reason, and she no longer wanted anything to do with him. His love for her was slowly driving him insane.

Or maybe it was all the demonic powers coursing through him.

It would be easy enough to create an illusory world where he was still married to her, but he knew he'd still be able to see through the charade. He wanted more. He wanted that sweet little witch to love him again.

Cole Turner did not lose.

Was that it? He couldn't admit failure?

Perhaps there was another way to win.

He crossed over to the wet bar and poured a drink. "Hello, Cerise," he greeted without turning.

She shimmered onto the sofa a moment later, a smile on her cherry-red lips. "Hello, Cole. Have you thought about what I said?"

He handed her the whisky he had poured. "Of course. It was a good question." He sat beside her and made himself comfortable. "There was a part of me - a rather large part - that wanted to believe I was really still in love with her. Over the past few weeks, though, I've come to a painful realisation."

She arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as if to ask what it was.

"I was clinging to an idealised image of what we once had. We were good together, Phoebe and I, but we were never meant to be. I was meant to kill her or corrupt her. If not for my attempts to change, to be _good_ for her sake, I wouldn't have lost my demon half."

"Ah, but, had Belthazor not been vanquished, you couldn't have become the Source. We wouldn't be sitting here now."

He brushed a lock of dark auburn hair back from her face.

"What are your plans now?" she asked.

He lifted a shoulder and admitted he wasn't sure. "But I think they'll be coming for me soon. I sort of sent a Tracker after them."

"How devious! He could take out Leo. Or Paige. Or her father." The mere idea of the Charmed Ones being but a memory was enough to thrill her.

"Or all three. But that's not really why I sent him. I wanted to show the sisters how easily I could rid myself of them." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. "What are you doing the rest of the afternoon?"

She chuckled, soft and low. "I'm all yours."

Cerise gasped as he lifted her off the sofa, yelped when he divested the both of them of their clothing with the licks of flames, screamed when he thrust himself into her. Being trapped between the wall and his tall, muscular body sent shockwaves of pleasure through her. The taste of his skin was intoxicating.

Every movement had him grunting and moaning. He flung her onto a glass-topped end table and thrust harder, deeper, faster until she was writhing and crying out for release beneath him. She clawed at him, leaving rivulets of blood along his skin, whimpering and begging for more. He could have dragged that moment on forever, but he, too, desired that deliciously explosive sensation. They were so close to the edge. Welts formed where he clutched her to him. He buried his face in her neck as he spilled himself within her.

No one had made him feel so truly and utterly wanted since he couldn't remember when. The way her fingers ran through his hair, the look in her eyes as she gazed up at him, the sound of his name on her lips . . .

And he knew he'd taken her past the point of ecstasy to that place where pleasure and pain meet and mingle.


	2. A Farewell from the authoress

I will not be continuing this fanfiction.

I greatly appreciate the reviews and feedback I've gotten for this, but, as you know, writing fanfiction does not pay the bills. Sure, it's a fun hobby (or it can be). I have too many ideas in my head that could be turned into publishable works, and I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you hanging, wondering when I'd have a new chapter of this to give you. I simply don't have it in me anymore to give this sort of thing away.

I have an idea for something vaguely similar that I hope to publish someday. (Under what nom de plume, I'm not sure yet.)

So, yes, I will leave the opening chapter up on FFN. No, this is not how the book is going to start out. It'll probably be a bit darker, too, at least in some parts. If you really want an update on how this and other stories are coming along, go to my blog at

macabrevel . webs . com

(Remove the spaces, of course.)

Peace and love, dearies.


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